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US Congress Considers Expanding Authority Of Bureaucratic Magistrates

Neatly mirroring the decaying implementation of Justice in the Soviet Union fifty years prior, The United States Congress is considering changing the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure in a way that greatly favors police and prosecutors. Chief among this changes is broadening the authority of sub-judicial magistrate "judges" (functionally they are police station gonzos, working mostly as police detectives) to issue warrants and have their warrants recognized outside of their immediate jurisdiction. Due to their para-judicial role indented to supplement actual judges magistrates have traditionally had their limited authority end at the border of their immediate district's borders. The proposed changes are presented in full below:

April 28, 2016
Honorable Paul D. Ryan
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I have the honor to submit to the Congress the amendments to the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure that have been adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant
to Section 2075 of Title 28, United States Code.
Accompanying these rules are the following materials submitted to the Court for its
consideration pursuant to Section 331 of Title 28, United States Code: a transmittal letter to the
Court dated October 9, 2015; a redline version of the rules with Committee Notes; an excerpt
from the September 2015 Report of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure to the
Judicial Conference of the United States; and an excerpt from the May 6, 2015 Report of the
Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules.
Sincerely,
/s/ John G. Roberts April 28, 2016
Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President, United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. President:
I have the honor to submit to the Congress the amendments to the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure that have been adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant
to Section 2075 of Title 28, United States Code.
Accompanying these rules are the following materials submitted to the Court for its
consideration pursuant to Section 331 of Title 28, United States Code: a transmittal letter to the
Court dated October 9, 2015; a redline version of the rules with Committee Notes; an excerpt
from the September 2015 Report of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure to the
Judicial Conference of the United States; and an excerpt from the May 6, 2015 Report of the
Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules.
Sincerely,
/s/ John G. Roberts
April 28, 2016
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
ORDERED:
1. That the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure be, and they hereby are, amended by
including therein amendments to Criminal Rules 4, 41, and 45.
[See infra pp. .]
2. That the foregoing amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure shall take
effect on December 1, 2016, and shall govern in all proceedings in criminal cases thereafter
commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then pending.
3. That THE CHIEF JUSTICE be, and hereby is, authorized to transmit to the Congress
the foregoing amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure in accordance with the
provisions of Section 2075 of Title 28, United States Code.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE
FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Rule 4. Arrest Warrant or Summons on a Complaint
(a) Issuance. If the complaint or one or more affidavits
filed with the complaint establish probable cause to
believe that an offense has been committed and that
the defendant committed it, the judge must issue an
arrest warrant to an officer authorized to execute it.
At the request of an attorney for the government, the
judge must issue a summons, instead of a warrant, to a
person authorized to serve it. A judge may issue more
than one warrant or summons on the same complaint.
If an individual defendant fails to appear in response
to a summons, a judge may, and upon request of an
attorney for the government must, issue a warrant. If
an organizational defendant fails to appear in response
to a summons, a judge may take any action authorized
by United States law.

FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 2
* * * * *
(c) Execution or Service, and Return.
(1) By Whom. Only a marshal or other authorized
officer may execute a warrant. Any person
authorized to serve a summons in a federal civil
action may serve a summons.
(2) Location. A warrant may be executed, or a
summons served, within the jurisdiction of the
United States or anywhere else a federal statute
authorizes an arrest. A summons to an
organization under Rule 4(c)(3)(D) may also be
served at a place not within a judicial district of
the United States.
(3) Manner.
(A) A warrant is executed by arresting the
defendant. Upon arrest, an officer
possessing the original or a duplicate

3 FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
original warrant must show it to the
defendant. If the officer does not possess
the warrant, the officer must inform the
defendant of the warrant’s existence and of
the offense charged and, at the defendant’s
request, must show the original or a
duplicate original warrant to the defendant
as soon as possible.
(B) A summons is served on an individual
defendant:
(i) by delivering a copy to the defendant
personally; or
(ii) by leaving a copy at the defendant’s
residence or usual place of abode with
a person of suitable age and discretion
residing at that location and by

FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 4
mailing a copy to the defendant’s last
known address.
(C) A summons is served on an organization in
a judicial district of the United States by
delivering a copy to an officer, to a
managing or general agent, or to another
agent appointed or legally authorized to
receive service of process. If the agent is
one authorized by statute and the statute so
requires, a copy must also be mailed to the
organization.
(D) A summons is served on an organization
not within a judicial district of the United
States:
(i) by delivering a copy, in a manner
authorized by the foreign
jurisdiction’s law, to an officer, to a
5 FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
managing or general agent, or to an
agent appointed or legally authorized
to receive service of process; or
(ii) by any other means that gives notice,
including one that is:
(a) stipulated by the parties;
(b) undertaken by a foreign authority
in response to a letter rogatory, a
letter of request, or a request
submitted under an applicable
international agreement; or
(c) permitted by an applicable
international agreement.
* * * * *

FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 6
Rule 41. Search and Seizure
* * * * *
(b) Venue for a Warrant Application. At the request of
a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for
the government:
* * * * *
(6) a magistrate judge with authority in any district
where activities related to a crime may have
occurred has authority to issue a warrant to use
remote access to search electronic storage media
and to seize or copy electronically stored
information located within or outside that district
if:
(A) the district where the media or information
is located has been concealed through
technological means; or

7 FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
(B) in an investigation of a violation of
18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5), the media are
protected computers that have been
damaged without authorization and are
located in five or more districts.
* * * * *
(f) Executing and Returning the Warrant.
(1) Warrant to Search for and Seize a Person or
Property.
* * * * *
(C) Receipt. The officer executing the warrant
must give a copy of the warrant and a
receipt for the property taken to the person
from whom, or from whose premises, the
property was taken or leave a copy of the
warrant and receipt at the place where the
officer took the property. For a warrant to FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 8
use remote access to search electronic
storage media and seize or copy
electronically stored information, the
officer must make reasonable efforts to
serve a copy of the warrant and receipt on
the person whose property was searched or
who possessed the information that was
seized or copied. Service may be
accomplished by any means, including
electronic means, reasonably calculated to
reach that person.
* * * * *
9 FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Rule 45. Computing and Extending Time
* * * * *
(c) Additional Time After Certain Kinds of Service.
Whenever a party must or may act within a specified
time after being served and service is made under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b)(2)(C) (mailing),
(D) (leaving with the clerk), or (F) (other means
consented to), 3 days are added after the period would
otherwise expire under subdivision (a).